Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automobile roof rack made of a continuous fiber thermoplastic composite and, more particularly, to an automobile roof rack made of a continuous fiber thermoplastic composite that can reduce weight and production cost of a roof rack and improve mechanical properties of a roof rack.
Description of Related Art
Automobile users typically use a car trunk to transport objects but sometimes use a roof rack to carry long or bulky items that are too large to be accommodated in a car trunk.
A roof rack is a convenient apparatus mounted on a vehicle. It is a set of bars secured to a roof panel of a car. It is used to carry bulky items or leisure equipment such as camping gear or skis. Such roof racks are recently in wide use due to the popularity of sport utility vehicles (SUV).
A roof module for a vehicle, as illustrated in FIG. 1, includes a front filler 1 which is an upper structure of a vehicle, a center filter 2, a rear filler 3, roof rails 6, a front roof cross member 4, a center roof cross member 5, a rear roof cross member 7, and a roof panel 8. A pair of roof racks 9 is attached to left and right edges of the roof panel 8.
Recently in the automobile industry, a design in which a car body is made of an aluminum alloy, a magnesium alloy, or a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic to increase fuel efficiency has attracted attention, and the number of patent applications for technologies related to such a design is increasing.
Specifically, with tightening of regulations on CO2 emissions, a design in which a car body is made of a lightweight material is increasingly used by automobile manufacturers. Accordingly, technologies related to convenient parts such as a roof rack are increasingly being developed.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.